Implementation of improved omni mode signal reception

ABSTRACT

In an aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus may include several detectors, each of which may be configured to detect a signal received by a corresponding antenna of several antennas. The apparatus may include a processing system configured to detect a remote apparatus based on outputs from the detectors. The apparatus may include several modem radio frequency chips each including a corresponding detector of the several detectors, and a modem baseband chip including the processing system. The processing system may be configured to allow at most one of the detectors to output a detection declaration to the processing system at a time. The processing system may be configured to send a power-down command to and disconnect from each of the detectors that does not detect the signal from a corresponding antenna of the several antennas.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to an omni mode for improved signal receptioncoverage.

Background

Communications networks are used to exchange messages among severalinteracting spatially-separated devices. Networks may be classifiedaccording to geographic scope, which may be, for example, a metropolitanarea, a local area, or a personal area. Such networks may be designatedrespectively as a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network(MAN), local area network (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), orpersonal area network (PAN). Networks also differ according to theswitching/routing technique used to interconnect the various networknodes and devices (e.g., circuit switching vs. packet switching), thetype of physical media employed for transmission (e.g., wired vs.wireless), and the set of communication protocols used (e.g., Internetprotocol suite, Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Ethernet, etc.).

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging,broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networkscapable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available networkresources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks,Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)networks.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. The summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. The summary's sole purpose isto present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form asa prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

As communication networks become increasingly populated by wirelessnodes, more efficient methods for transmitting information and reducinginterference is needed. The disclosure below describes methods for moreefficiently transmitting information and reducing interference.

In an aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus for wireless communicationis provided. The apparatus may include several detectors, each of whichmay be configured to detect a signal received by a corresponding antennaof several antennas. The apparatus may include a processing systemconfigured to detect a remote apparatus based on outputs from thedetectors. The apparatus may include several modem radio frequency chipseach including a corresponding detector of the several detectors, and amodem baseband chip including the processing system. The processingsystem may be configured to allow at most one of the detectors to outputa detection declaration to the processing system at a time. Theprocessing system may be configured to send a power-down command to eachof the detectors that does not detect the signal from a correspondingantenna of the several antennas. The processing system may be configuredto disconnect from each of the detectors that does not detect the signalfrom a corresponding antenna of the several antennas. The processingsystem may be configured to stop any communication (e.g., transmission,reception, signaling, etc.) by the apparatus that may interfere with thereception of the detected signal. The processing system may beconfigured to disconnect from each of the detectors that does not detectthe signal from a corresponding antenna of the several antennas.

Each of the detectors may be further configured to estimate at least oneof frequency, gain, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), in-phase (I) andquadrature (Q) signal mismatch, or phase to enhance performance of theapparatus. The estimation result may be sent to the processing system.In one configuration, the estimation of gain may be used for fasterautomatic gain control (AGC). For example, the estimation of gain mayenable convergence of radio frequency (RF) gain, analog baseband gain,and intermediate frequency (IF) gains in short time, during thepreambles that are used for detection. In one configuration, providingthe frequency estimation to the processing system may save time in theprocessing system in the subsequent acquisition stage. In oneconfiguration, the estimation may be used for selecting sector duringsector sweep, e.g., according to the maximum gain or SNR. In oneconfiguration, the device may be calibrated using these estimations(e.g., SNR).

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method and an apparatus forwireless communication are provided. The apparatus may detect signalsvia several detectors, each of which may detect a signal received by acorresponding antenna of several antennas. The apparatus may detect aremote apparatus based on outputs from the detectors. To detect theremote apparatus, the apparatus may combine the outputs from thedetectors. To combine the outputs, the apparatus may allow at most oneof the detectors to output a detection declaration to a processingsystem of the apparatus at a time. To detect the remote apparatus, theapparatus may send a power-down command to each of the detectors thatdoes not detect the signal from a corresponding antenna. To detect theremote apparatus, the apparatus may disconnect from each of thedetectors that does not detect the signal from a corresponding antenna.To detect the remote apparatus, the apparatus may stop any communication(e.g., transmission, reception, signaling, etc.) by the apparatus thatmay interfere with the reception of the detected signal. To detect thesignals, the apparatus may estimate at least one of frequency, gain,SNR, IQ signal mismatch, or phase to enhance performance of theapparatus.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects include the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail contain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. However, the appendeddrawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the disclosure andare therefore not to be considered limiting of the disclosure's scope,for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of an example wireless communicationsnetwork, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example access point (AP) anduser terminals (UTs), in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a device with a single detector.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a device having a plurality of detectors,each configured to detect a signal (e.g., a control PHY preamble)received by a respective one of a plurality of antenna arrays, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an RF chipcontaining a detector.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection flow of adevice.

FIG. 7 shows an example functional block diagram of a wireless deviceconfigured to detect signal using multiple detectors.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example method of detecting signal usingmultiple detectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosure may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to any specific structure or function presented throughoutthe disclosure. Rather, the aspects are provided so that the disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of thedisclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings hereinone skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of thedisclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure disclosedherein, whether implemented independently of or combined with any otheraspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implementedor a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forthherein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to coversuch an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure,functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or otherthan the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It shouldbe understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may beembodied by one or more elements of a claim.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary”is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous overother aspects.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wirelesstechnologies, system configurations, networks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

An Example Wireless Communication System

The techniques described herein may be used for various broadbandwireless communication systems, including communication systems that arebased on an orthogonal multiplexing scheme. Examples of suchcommunication systems include Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA),Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and so forth. An SDMA system mayutilize different directions to simultaneously transmit data belongingto multiple user terminals. A TDMA system may allow multiple userterminals to share the same frequency channel by dividing thetransmission signal into different time slots, each time slot beingassigned to different user terminal. An OFDMA system utilizes orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is a modulation techniquethat partitions the overall system bandwidth into multiple orthogonalsub-carriers. These sub-carriers may also be called tones, bins, etc.With OFDM, each sub-carrier may be independently modulated with data. AnSC-FDMA system may utilize interleaved FDMA (IFDMA) to transmit onsub-carriers that are distributed across the system bandwidth, localizedFDMA (LFDMA) to transmit on a block of adjacent sub-carriers, orenhanced FDMA (EFDMA) to transmit on multiple blocks of adjacentsub-carriers. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequencydomain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDMA.

The teachings herein may be incorporated into (e.g., implemented withinor performed by) a variety of wired or wireless apparatuses (e.g.,nodes). In some aspects, a wireless node implemented in accordance withthe teachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

An access point (“AP”) may comprise, be implemented as, or known as aNode B, a Radio Network Controller (“RNC”), an evolved Node B (eNB), aBase Station Controller (“BSC”), a Base Transceiver Station (“BTS”), aBase Station (“BS”), a Transceiver Function (“TF”), a Radio Router, aRadio Transceiver, a Basic Service Set (“BSS”), an Extended Service Set(“ESS”), a Radio Base Station (“RBS”), or some other terminology.

An access terminal (“AT”) may comprise, be implemented as, or known as asubscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobile station (MS), a remotestation, a remote terminal, a user terminal (UT), a user agent, a userdevice, user equipment (UE), a user station, or some other terminology.In some implementations, an access terminal may comprise a cellulartelephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”)phone, a wireless local loop (“WLL”) station, a personal digitalassistant (“PDA”), a handheld device having wireless connectioncapability, a Station (“STA”), or some other suitable processing deviceconnected to a wireless modem. Accordingly, one or more aspects taughtherein may be incorporated into a phone (e.g., a cellular phone or smartphone), a computer (e.g., a laptop), a tablet, a portable communicationdevice, a portable computing device (e.g., a personal data assistant),an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satelliteradio), a global positioning system (GPS) device, or any other suitabledevice that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.In some aspects, the node is a wireless node. Such wireless node mayprovide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a widearea network such as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired orwireless communication link.

FIG. 1 illustrates a multiple-access multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) system 100 with access points and user terminals in which aspectsof the present disclosure may be practiced. For example, one or moreuser terminals 120 may signal capabilities (e.g., to access point 110)using the techniques provided herein.

For simplicity, one access point 110 is shown in FIG. 1. An access pointmay be a fixed station that communicates with the user terminals and mayalso be referred to as a base station or some other terminology. A userterminal may be fixed or mobile and may also be referred to as a mobilestation, a wireless node, or some other terminology. Access point 110may communicate with one or more user terminals 120 at any given momenton the downlink and uplink. The downlink (i.e., forward link) is thecommunication link from the access point to the user terminals, and theuplink (i.e., reverse link) is the communication link from the userterminals to the access point. A user terminal may also communicatepeer-to-peer with another user terminal. A system controller 130 couplesto and provides coordination and control for the access points.

While portions of the following disclosure will describe user terminals120 capable of communicating via Spatial Division Multiple Access(SDMA), for certain aspects, the user terminals 120 may also includesome user terminals that do not support SDMA. Thus, for such aspects, anAP 110 may be configured to communicate with both SDMA and non-SDMA userterminals. This approach may conveniently allow older versions of userterminals (e.g., “legacy” stations) to remain deployed in an enterprise,extending such terminals' useful lifetime, while allowing newer SDMAuser terminals to be introduced as deemed appropriate.

The access point 110 and user terminals 120 employ multiple transmit andmultiple receive antennas for data transmission on the downlink anduplink. For downlink MIMO transmissions, N_(ap) antennas of the accesspoint 110 represent the multiple-input (MI) portion of MIMO, while a setof K user terminals represent the multiple-output (MO) portion of MIMO.Conversely, for uplink MIMO transmissions, the set of K user terminalsrepresent the MI portion, while the N_(ap) antennas of the access point110 represent the MO portion. For pure SDMA, it is desired to haveN_(ap)≥K≥1 if the data symbol streams for the K user terminals are notmultiplexed in code, frequency or time by some means. K may be greaterthan N_(ap) if the data symbol streams can be multiplexed using TDMAtechniques, different code channels with CDMA, disjoint sets of subbandswith OFDM, and so on. Each selected user terminal may transmituser-specific data to and/or receive user-specific data from the accesspoint. In general, each selected user terminal may be equipped with oneor multiple antennas (i.e., N_(ut)≥1). The K selected user terminals mayhave the same number of antennas or a different number of antennas.

The MIMO system 100 may be a time division duplex (TDD) system or afrequency division duplex (FDD) system. For a TDD system, the downlinkand uplink share the same frequency band. For an FDD system, thedownlink and uplink use different frequency bands. The MIMO system 100may also utilize a single carrier or multiple carriers for transmission.Each user terminal may be equipped with a single antenna (e.g., toreduce cost) or equipped with multiple antennas (e.g., where theadditional cost can be supported). The system 100 may also be a TDMAsystem if the user terminals 120 share the same frequency channel bydividing transmission/reception into different time slots, each timeslot being assigned to different user terminal 120.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an access point 110 and two userterminals 120 m and 120 x in MIMO system 100 that may be examples of theaccess point 110 and user terminals 120 described above with referenceto FIG. 1 and capable of performing the techniques described herein. Thevarious processors shown in FIG. 2 may be configured to perform (ordirect a device to perform) various methods described herein.

The access point 110 is equipped with N_(t) antennas 224 a through 224ap. User terminal 120 m is equipped with N_(ut,m) antennas 252 mathrough 252 mu, and user terminal 120 x is equipped with N_(ut,x)antennas 252 xa through 252 xu. The access point 110 is a transmittingentity for the downlink and a receiving entity for the uplink. Each userterminal 120 is a transmitting entity for the uplink and a receivingentity for the downlink. As used herein, a “transmitting entity” is anindependently operated apparatus or device capable of transmitting datavia a wireless channel, and a “receiving entity” is an independentlyoperated apparatus or device capable of receiving data via a wirelesschannel. In the following description, the subscript “dn” denotes thedownlink, the subscript “up” denotes the uplink. For SDMA transmissions,N_(up) user terminals simultaneously transmit on the uplink, whileN_(dn) user terminals are simultaneously transmitted to on the downlinkby the access point 110. N_(up) may or may not be equal to N dn, andN_(up) and N_(dn) may be static values or can change for each schedulinginterval. Beam-steering or some other spatial processing technique maybe used at the access point and user terminal.

On the uplink, at each user terminal 120 selected for uplinktransmission, a transmit (TX) data processor 288 receives traffic datafrom a data source 286 and control data from a controller 280. Thecontroller 280 may be coupled with a memory 282. TX data processor 288processes (e.g., encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic datafor the user terminal based on the coding and modulation schemesassociated with the rate selected for the user terminal and provides adata symbol stream. A TX spatial processor 290 performs spatialprocessing on the data symbol stream and provides N_(ut,m) transmitsymbol streams for the N_(ut,m) antennas. Each transmitter unit (TMTR)254 receives and processes (e.g., converts to analog, amplifies,filters, and frequency upconverts) a respective transmit symbol streamto generate an uplink signal. N_(ut,m) transmitter units 254 provideN_(ut,m) uplink signals for transmission from N_(ut,m) antennas 252 tothe access point.

N_(up) user terminals may be scheduled for simultaneous transmission onthe uplink. Each of these user terminals performs spatial processing onits data symbol stream and transmits its set of transmit symbol streamson the uplink to the access point.

At access point 110, N_(ap) antennas 224 a through 224 ap receive theuplink signals from all N_(up) user terminals transmitting on theuplink. Each antenna 224 provides a received signal to a respectivereceiver unit (RCVR) 222. Each receiver unit 222 performs processingcomplementary to that performed by transmitter unit 254 and provides areceived symbol stream. An RX spatial processor 240 performs receiverspatial processing on the N_(ap) received symbol streams from N_(ap)receiver units 222 and provides N_(up) recovered uplink data symbolstreams. The receiver spatial processing is performed in accordance withthe channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI), minimum mean squareerror (MMSE), soft interference cancellation (SIC), or some othertechnique. Each recovered uplink data symbol stream is an estimate of adata symbol stream transmitted by a respective user terminal. An RX dataprocessor 242 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes)each recovered uplink data symbol stream in accordance with the rateused for that stream to obtain decoded data. The decoded data for eachuser terminal may be provided to a data sink 244 for storage and/or acontroller 230 for further processing. The controller 230 may be coupledwith a memory 232.

On the downlink, at access point 110, a TX data processor 210 receivestraffic data from a data source 208 for Nan user terminals scheduled fordownlink transmission, control data from a controller 230, and possiblyother data from a scheduler 234. The various types of data may be senton different transport channels. TX data processor 210 processes (e.g.,encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data for each userterminal based on the rate selected for that user terminal. TX dataprocessor 210 provides Nan downlink data symbol streams for the Nan userterminals. A TX spatial processor 220 performs spatial processing (suchas a precoding or beamforming, as described in the present disclosure)on the Nan downlink data symbol streams, and provides N_(ap) transmitsymbol streams for the N_(ap) antennas. Each transmitter unit 222receives and processes a respective transmit symbol stream to generate adownlink signal. N_(ap) transmitter units 222 providing N_(ap) downlinksignals for transmission from N_(ap) antennas 224 to the user terminals.

At each user terminal 120, N_(ut,m) antennas 252 receive the N_(ap)downlink signals from access point 110. Each receiver unit 254 processesa received signal from an associated antenna 252 and provides a receivedsymbol stream. An RX spatial processor 260 performs receiver spatialprocessing on N_(ut,m) received symbol streams from N_(ut,m) receiverunits 254 and provides a recovered downlink data symbol stream for theuser terminal. The receiver spatial processing is performed inaccordance with the CCMI, MMSE or some other technique. An RX dataprocessor 270 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves and decodes)the recovered downlink data symbol stream to obtain decoded data for theuser terminal. The decoded data for each user terminal may be providedto a data sink 272 for storage and/or a controller 280 for furtherprocessing.

At each user terminal 120, a channel estimator 278 estimates thedownlink channel response and provides downlink channel estimates, whichmay include channel gain estimates, SNR estimates, noise variance and soon. Similarly, at access point 110, a channel estimator 228 estimatesthe uplink channel response and provides uplink channel estimates.Controller 280 for each user terminal typically derives the spatialfilter matrix for the user terminal based on the downlink channelresponse matrix H_(dn,m) for that user terminal. Controller 230 derivesthe spatial filter matrix for the access point based on the effectiveuplink channel response matrix H_(up,eff). Controller 280 for each userterminal may send feedback information (e.g., the downlink and/or uplinkeigenvectors, eigenvalues, SNR estimates, and so on) to the accesspoint. Controllers 230 and 280 also control the operation of variousprocessing units at access point 110 and user terminal 120,respectively.

In certain systems such as IEEE 802.11ad and mmWave type systems, onedevice may use a high sensitivity transmission/reception mode, which maybe referred to as a “control PHY” mode, in order to reach or connect toanother device whose receive antennas are not yet trained. In the highsensitivity transmission mode, a transmitting device may transmitphysical layer (PHY) frames at a lower data rate supported by each ofthe devices operating in the system, in order to communicate basiccontrol information, e.g., beamforming training information.

A receiver operating in the high sensitivity transmission/reception modemay operate in an “omni” mode, where the receiver's antennas areconfigured such that they can receive signals from all directions. Thatis, prior to beamforming training, a device may not know the directionfrom which a signal may be received and, thus, may be configured toreceive signals from all directions. Some such receivers may use asingle receive chain or may use a plurality of receive chains. Ingeneral, a receive chain refers to a set of components used to processand detect an RF signal received via one or more antennas.

When using a single receive chain with a single detector in an omni modeof operation, coverage of the device may be determined by thesensitivity of the receive chain and the particular antennaconfiguration, as opposed to a link-budget of a trained link. Therefore,even though the control PHY mode of transmission may use a lowtransmission rate, e.g., 23 megabits per second (mbps), poorsignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for signals received from certain directionsmay result in poor coverage.

Some devices may include a plurality of omni elements in an antennaarray arranged to receive signals omni-directionally. A single receivechain with a single detector circuit may not have sufficient sensitivityfor the configuration. For example, a sensitivity for a single receivechain with a single detector circuit may be 15 dB below the sensitivitythat may be needed for a device to operate in the control PHY mode.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a device 300 with a single detector. Inthis example, the device 300 has four antennas 302A, 302B, 302C, 302D(collectively, 302), each configured to receive signals from onedirection of a plurality of directions. The signals received by each ofthe antennas 302 are processed by respective processing chains 304A,304B, 304C, and 304D (collectively, processing chains 304). The outputsof each of the processing chains 304 may be combined via a combinercircuit 306 (e.g., a Wilkinson combiner) to generate a single input to asingle detector 308 which, for example, may include a mixer and ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC). The detector is configured to detecta signal, which may be received by one of the plurality of antennas 302and, e.g., from one of a plurality of directions. Based on an output ofthe detector, a processing system may determine whether a frame 310 isreceived by at least one of the antennas 302. In one configuration, theprocessing system may compare the output of the detector with athreshold to determine whether a frame 310 is received by at least oneof the antennas 302.

In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3, noise from each of theplurality of antennas is added to the combined signal that is input tothe detector 308. Therefore, by having a single detector 308 thatreceives a combined output of the plurality of processing chains, anoise floor of the input to the detector is increased (e.g., by 6 dB),thus resulting in a reduction in coverage (e.g., by 6 dB) as compared todevice 400 of FIG. 4, described in more detail below.

For example, a device may include three antenna arrays, a first antennaarray oriented according to a vertical polarization, a second orientedaccording to a horizontal polarization, and a third oriented accordingto the side of the receiving device. As noted above, however, the devicemay have a receive chain with a single detector used for all of sucharrays, which may make it difficult to actually detect direction of areceived signal. By including multiple detectors in a receiving device,however, signal reception coverage of a device may be increased by,e.g., by taking advantage of the antenna gain that may be provided bymultiple antenna arrays. As an example, assuming the same three-arrayconfiguration discussed above, three different detectors may be used todetect signals received by each of the antenna arrays. This arrangementmay decrease receiver sensitivity required for signal detection (e.g.,by 5 dB), and increase reception coverage of the device. In oneconfiguration, the reception overage of a device may be the range ofsignals that may be received by the device.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatusesthat use multiple receive chains/detectors within the same receivingdevice. In an aspect, the signal reception sensitivity of the receivingdevice may be lowered by effectively combining antenna gain for each ofthe receive chains. In other words, rather than utilizing a singlereceive chain/detector, the device may benefit from receive diversity byutilizing a plurality of receive chains/detectors. In this manner,aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus forimproving the coverage of omni mode signal reception by including adesignated detector for each process chain of a plurality of processingchains.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a device 400 having a plurality ofdetectors 406A, 406B, 406C, 406D (collectively, detectors 406), eachconfigured to detect a signal (e.g., a control PHY preamble) received bya respective one of a plurality of antenna arrays 402A, 402B, 402C, 402D(collectively, 402), in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. That is, a signal received by at least one of the pluralityof antenna arrays 402 may be processed via a respective processing chain(e.g., one of the plurality of processing chains 404A, 404B, 404C, and404D (collectively, processing chains 404)), and detected by arespective one of the plurality of detectors 406. The outputs of thedetectors 406 may be combined (e.g., a logic OR operation via logic gate408) and a processing system of the device may use the combined signalto determine whether a frame 410 has been received. For example, theprocessing system may monitor and determine when the output of the logicgate 408 indicates a logic high. Based on this determination, theprocessing system can determine that one of the plurality of detectors406 have detected the frame 410, and thus, that the frame 410 has beenreceived.

In certain aspects, each of the detectors 406 may be coupled to adifferent antenna array of the plurality of antenna arrays 402. In otheraspects, each of the detectors 406 may be coupled to a different antennawithin one of the plurality of antenna arrays 402. In certain aspects,each of the detectors 406 may be coupled to a plurality of antennas of arespective antenna array through a combiner, where each detector is fedwith a different combination of the plurality of antennas, includingdifferent gain and/or phase per antenna.

By using at least one detector for each of the antenna arrays 402, noiseat the input of each detector may be lower as compared to the device 300of FIG. 3. Moreover, the signal received by each detector may not impactsignals received by the other detectors, since the antenna arrays maynot have any significant overlap in reception direction. In some cases,an improvement in coverage (e.g., a 6 dB improvement) may be obtainedusing the configuration shown in FIG. 4 as compared to the device 300 ofFIG. 3.

According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a processingsystem of device 400 may be configured to determine a direction (e.g.,sector) from which a signal, including frame 410 for example, wastransmitted by another device based on the outputs of the plurality ofdetectors 406. For example, if a signal is more strongly detected bydetector 406A, the processing system may determine that the detectedsignal was received from a direction (e.g., sector) corresponding to thedetector 406A. In certain aspects, the processing system of device 400may be configured to determine a polarization of a signal, includingframe 410 for example, based on outputs of the plurality of detectors406. For example, each detector, of the plurality of detectors 406, maybe configured to detect a different polarization of the received signal.Therefore, if a signal is detected by a detector (e.g., detector 406A)that is configured to detect a vertical polarization, then theprocessing system may determine that the received signal has beenreceived with a vertical polarization. In certain aspects, thepolarization may be used to configure the antennas for furthercommunication with an apparatus that transmitted the signal, e.g.,including frame 410. For example, the processing system may adjust oneor more transmission parameters for communication with the otherapparatus based on the determined polarization. In certain aspects, eachdetector may determine whether a signal is received by comparing anenergy level of the received signal with a threshold. In oneconfiguration, the energy level of the received signal may be measuredby reference signals received power (RSRP) orsignal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR).

In certain aspects, a device may be configured to communicate with theother device that transmitted the signal, e.g., including frame 410,based on the determined direction. For example, the device may updatebeamforming parameters to improve communications in the determineddirection. For example, the device may control the directionality ofsignal transmission and reception by configuring transmitting and/orreceiving antennas by adjusting beamforming weights of at least one ofthe plurality of antenna arrays 402 based on the determined direction.

In certain aspects, each of the detectors 406 may be part of one of aplurality of RF modules. In such cases, device 400 may include theplurality of RF modules, each being configured to down convert a signalreceived by a corresponding one of the antenna arrays to a basebandsignal.

In certain aspects, each of the detectors 406 may be configured todetect a particular type of signal transmitted by another device. Forexample, each detector may be configured to detect a Golay sequenceknown by the device 400. In some cases, each detector may be configuredto detect cyclic repetition signals.

As described herein, by utilizing multiple detectors, aspects of thepresent disclosure may allow gain of multiple antenna arrays to becombined when detecting a received signal, which may help increasesensitivity, may improve the accuracy of determining a particulardirection, and may improve overall performance of the omni directionreceiver.

In certain aspects, each of the detectors 406 may be located on aseparate radio frequency (RF) chip and the rest of the device 400 (e.g.,the logic gate 408 and/or the processing chains 404) may be located on abaseband chip. The base band chip may include memory and one or moreprocessors. For example, the device 400 may include one baseband chipand four RF chips. Each of the four RF chips may contain a correspondingdetector of the detectors 406.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an RF chipcontaining a detector 500. In one configuration, the detector 500 may beone of the detectors 406 described above with reference to FIG. 4. Inthe example, the detector 500 may include a baseband demodulator 502,analog low-pass filters (LPFs) 504A and 504B, analog high-pass filters(HPFs) 506A and 506B, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 508, a linearinterpolator 510, a low-pass filter 512, an optional decimator 514, aphase-shift modulator 516, a Golay correlator 518, a delay line 520, aFourier transform (FT) unit 522, and a detection logic circuit 524.

The baseband demodulator 502 may generate an in-phase (I) signal and aquadrature (Q) signal based on a received signal (e.g., a preamble). TheI signal may go through the analog low-pass filter 504A and the analoghigh-pass filter 506A to reach the ADC 508. The Q signal may go throughthe analog low-pass filter 504B and the analog high-pass filter 506B toreach the ADC 508.

In one configuration, the ADC 508 may be a 1-bit or 2-bit ADC. In oneconfiguration, the detector 500 may include a clock for clocking theADC. The clock may be asynchronous to the signal received by thecorresponding antenna of the detector 500. The ADC 508 may use thecarrier frequency (F_(c)) used by RF mixer to approximate the frequencyof the received signal. In one configuration, the carrier frequency maybe the frequency of a carrier wave. For example, the ADC clock may bethe carrier frequency divided by an integer (e.g., 16) to approximatethe frequency of the received signal. In some aspects, the detection maywork with twice the sampling rate in order to overcome timemisalignments between the transmitter and the receiver.

The ADC 508 may output a digital signal to the linear interpolator 510.The output of the linear interpolator 510 may go through the low-passfilter 512 and reach the phase-shift modulator 516. The output of thelow-pass filter 512 may go through the optional decimator 514 beforereaching the phase-shift modulator 516.

The output of the phase-shift modulator 516 may be sent to the Golaycorrelator 518. The output of the Golay correlator 518 may reach the FTunit 522 via the delay line 520. The detection logic circuit 524 mayreceive the output of the FT unit 522 and compare the output with athreshold to determine whether a signal (e.g., preamble) has beendetected.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection flow of adevice. In one configuration, the device may be the device 400 describedabove with reference to FIG. 4. In this example, the device may includea plurality of RF chips and a baseband chip. Each RF chip may include adetector. A processing system may control the behavior of the detectorsby using specific short interface commands, e.g., as described below.

At 602, the base band chip may send a command (e.g., RX-INA-ON) to allRF chips to activate the detectors within all RF chips for detectingsignals. At 604, a detector within one of the RF chips may detect asignal (e.g., a preamble). At 606, the RF chip that detects the signalmay send a detection declaration signal (e.g., the ina_r_sync signal) tothe baseband chip to indicate the detection of the signal. the RF chipthat detects the signal may remain analog receive mode during 620. At608, the baseband chip may send power-down commands (e.g., standbypower-down command, deep power-down command) to RF chips that do notreceive the signal to power down the RF chips that do not receive thesignal. At 610, the baseband chip may disconnect from the RF chips thatdo not receive the signal. At 612, the device may receive the signal. Inone configuration, the baseband chip may stop any communication (e.g.,transmission, reception, signaling, etc.) by the device that mayinterfere with reception of the detection already in progress. At 614,the device may receive the frame associated with the signal. After theframe is received at 614, the operations performed at 602-614 may berepeated.

In certain aspects, the combine logic of the device may be able to takea plurality of detections, each detection of the plurality of detectionsfrom a corresponding detector of a plurality of detectors within aplurality of RF chips and select the one detector that detects thesignal. In certain aspects, no more than a single RF chip may be firedand allowed to send signal to the base band chip. In certain aspects,the signaling over the RF baseband cable may need to be low latency toallow for the detection to be signaled to the baseband chip to allow forthe decoding of the signal. By powering down the RF chips that do notreceive the signal and disconnecting the baseband chip from the RF chipsthat do not receive the signal, the device may be able to ensurecontention resolution when multiple detections are happeningsimultaneously or within a short time frame (e.g., less than 1picosecond).

FIG. 7 shows an example functional block diagram of a wireless device702 configured to detect signal using multiple detectors. In oneconfiguration, each detector may be looking for a signal from acorresponding direction. The wireless device 702 is an example of adevice that may be configured to perform the various methods describedherein. For example, the wireless device 702 may be the AP 110 and/orthe user terminal 120.

The wireless device 702 may include a processor 704 which controlsoperation of the wireless device 702. The processor 704 may also bereferred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 706, which mayinclude both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), mayprovide instructions and data to the processor 704. A portion of thememory 706 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).The processor 704 typically performs logical and arithmetic operationsbased on program instructions stored within the memory 706. Theinstructions in the memory 706 may be executable (by the processor 704,for example) to implement the methods described herein.

The wireless device 702 may also include a housing 708, and the wirelessdevice 702 may include a transmitter 710 and a receiver 712 to allowtransmission and reception of data between the wireless device 702 and aremote device. The transmitter 710 and receiver 712 may be combined intoa transceiver 714. A single transmit antenna or a plurality of transmitantennas 716 may be attached to the housing 708 and electrically coupledto the transceiver 714. The wireless device 702 may also includemultiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and/or multiple transceivers.

The wireless device 702 may also include a plurality of signal detectors718 that may be used in an effort to detect and quantify the level ofsignals received by the transceiver 714 or the receiver 712. Theplurality of signal detectors 718 may detect such signals as totalenergy, energy per subcarrier per symbol, power spectral density andother signals. The signal detectors 718 may be configured to estimate atleast one of frequency, gain, SNR, IQ signal mismatch, or phase toenhance performance of the wireless device 702. The estimation resultmay be sent to the detection component 724.

The wireless device 702 may also include a digital signal processor(DSP) 720 for use in processing signals. The DSP 720 may be configuredto generate a packet for transmission. In some aspects, the packet maycomprise a PPDU.

The various components of the wireless device 702 may be communicativelycoupled by a bus system 722, which may include a power bus, a controlsignal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. In oneconfiguration, when the wireless device 702 is implemented as an AP or aSTA configured to transmit data on a data channel, the wireless device702 may include a detection component 724. The detection component 724may be configured to detect a remote apparatus based on outputs frommultiple detectors. The detection component 724 may be configured tocombine the outputs from multiple detectors. The detection component 724may be configured to allow at most one of the detectors to output adetection declaration to the processing system at a time. The detectioncomponent 724 may be configured to send a power-down command to each ofthe detectors that does not detect the signal from a correspondingantenna. The detection component 724 may be configured to disconnectfrom each of the detectors that does not detect the signal from acorresponding antenna. The detection component 724 may be configured tostop any communication (e.g., transmission, reception, signaling, etc.)by the wireless device 702 that may interfere with the reception of thedetected signal.

In general, an AP and STA may perform similar (e.g., symmetric orcomplementary) operations. Therefore, for many of the techniquesdescribed herein, an AP or STA may perform similar operations. As such,the following description may refer to an “AP/STA” to reflect that anoperation may be performed by either an AP or a STA. Although, it shouldbe understood that even if only “AP” or “STA” is used, it does not meana corresponding operation or mechanism is limited to that type ofdevice.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example method 800 of detecting signal usingmultiple detectors. The method 800 may be performed using an apparatus(e.g., the AP 110, the user terminal 120, the device 400, or thewireless device 702, for example). Although the method 800 is describedbelow with respect to the elements of wireless device 702 of FIG. 7,other components may be used to implement one or more of the stepsdescribed herein. Blocks denoted by dotted lines may represent optionaloperations.

At block 802, an apparatus may detect signals via a plurality ofdetectors. Each detector of the of the plurality of detectors may detecta signal (e.g., by detecting the presence of a frame, but not thecontent of the frame) received by a corresponding antenna of a pluralityof antennas. In one configuration, the plurality of detectors may be thedetectors 406 described above with regard to FIG. 4. In oneconfiguration, the plurality of antennas may be the antenna arrays 402described above with regard to FIG. 4.

At block 804, the apparatus may detect a remote apparatus based onoutputs from the plurality of detectors. In one configuration, to detectthe remote apparatus, the apparatus may combine the output from eachdetector of the plurality of detectors. In one configuration, to combinethe output of each detector of the plurality of detectors, the apparatusmay allow at most one of the plurality of detectors to output adetection declaration to a processing system (e.g., located at abaseband chip of the apparatus) at a time. In one configuration, todetect the remote apparatus, the processing system may send a power-downcommand to each detector of the plurality of detectors that does notdetect the signal from a corresponding antenna of the plurality ofantennas. In one configuration, to detect the remote apparatus, theprocessing system may disconnect from each of the plurality of detectorsthat does not detect the signal from a corresponding one of theplurality of antennas. In one configuration, to detect the remoteapparatus, the processing system may stop any communication (e.g.,transmission, reception, signaling, etc.) by the apparatus that mayinterfere with the reception of the detected signal. In oneconfiguration, to detect the remote apparatus, the processing system mayestimate at least one of frequency, gain, SNR, IQ signal mismatch, orphase to enhance performance of the apparatus. In one configuration, theestimation result may be transferred to the processing system. In oneconfiguration, the processing system may be configured to detect thecontents of the frame detected by the plurality of detectors.

The apparatus may include a first means for detecting signals via aplurality of detectors. In one configuration, the first means fordetecting signals via a plurality of detectors may perform operationsdescribed above with reference to 802 of FIG. 8. In one configuration,the first means for detecting signals via a plurality of detectors maybe the detectors 406, the detector 500, the antenna arrays 402, thetransceiver 714, the plurality of transmit antennas 716, or theplurality of signal detectors 718. In one configuration, the first meansfor detecting signals may be configured to estimate at least one offrequency, gain, SNR, IQ signal mismatch, or phase to enhanceperformance of the apparatus.

The apparatus may include a second means for detecting a remoteapparatus based on outputs from the plurality of detectors. In oneconfiguration, the second means for detecting a remote apparatus basedon outputs from the plurality of detectors may perform operationsdescribed above with reference to 804 of FIG. 8. In one configuration,the second means for detecting a remote apparatus based on outputs fromthe plurality of detectors may comprise a processing system, which mayinclude one or more processors, such as the RX data processor 242, theTX data processor 210, and/or the controller 230 of the access point 110illustrated in FIG. 2. In one configuration, the processing system maycomprise the logic gate 408, the detection component 724, or theprocessor 704.

In one configuration, the second means for detecting the remoteapparatus may be configured to combine the outputs from the plurality ofdetectors. In one configuration, the second means for detecting theremote apparatus may be further configured to allow at most one detectorto output a detection declaration to a processing system at a time. Inone configuration, the second means for detecting the remote apparatusmay be configured to send a power-down command to each of the pluralityof detectors that does not detect the signal from a corresponding one ofthe plurality of antennas. In one configuration, the second means fordetecting the remote apparatus may be configured to disconnect from eachof the plurality of detectors that does not detect the signal from acorresponding one of the plurality of antennas. In one configuration,the second means for detecting the remote apparatus may be configured tostop any communication (e.g., transmission, reception, signaling, etc.)by the apparatus that may interfere with the reception of the detectedsignal.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the operations. The means mayinclude various hardware and/or software component(s) and/or module(s),including, but not limited to a circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, any operationsillustrated in the Figures may be performed by corresponding functionalmeans capable of performing the operations.

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

As used herein, the term receiver may refer to an RF receiver (e.g., ofan RF front end) or an interface (e.g., of a processor) for receivingstructures processed by an RF front end (e.g., via a bus). Similarly,the term transmitter may refer to an RF transmitter of an RF front endor an interface (e.g., of a processor) for outputting structures to anRF front end for transmission (e.g., via a bus).

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-a, b-b, c-c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array signal (FPGA) or other programmable logic device(PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware componentsor any combination thereof designed to perform the functions describedherein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thepresent disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in any form of storage medium that is knownin the art. Some examples of storage media that may be used includerandom access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROMmemory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM and so forth. A software module may comprise a singleinstruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over severaldifferent code segments, among different programs, and across multiplestorage media. A storage medium may be coupled to a processor such thatthe processor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more blocks or actions forachieving the described method. The method blocks and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of blocks or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific blocks and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

The functions described may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in hardware, anexample hardware configuration may comprise a processing system in awireless node. The processing system may be implemented with a busarchitecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting busesand bridges depending on the specific application of the processingsystem and the overall design constraints. The bus may link togethervarious circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and abus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a networkadapter, among other things, to the processing system via the bus. Thenetwork adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functionsof the PHY layer. In the case of a user terminal 120 (see FIG. 1), auser interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may alsobe connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuitssuch as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, powermanagement circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, andtherefore, will not be described any further.

The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and generalprocessing, including the execution of software stored on themachine-readable media. The processor may be implemented with one ormore general-purpose and/or special-purpose processors. Examples includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitrythat can execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. Machine-readable media may include, by way ofexample, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read OnlyMemory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product. The computer-program product may comprisepackaging materials.

In a hardware implementation, the machine-readable media may be part ofthe processing system separate from the processor. However, as thoseskilled in the art will readily appreciate, the machine-readable media,or any portion thereof, may be external to the processing system. By wayof example, the machine-readable media may include a transmission line,a carrier wave modulated by data, and/or a computer product separatefrom the wireless node, all which may be accessed by the processorthrough the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition, themachine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integrated intothe processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files.

The processing system may be configured as a general-purpose processingsystem with one or more microprocessors providing the processorfunctionality and external memory providing at least a portion of themachine-readable media, all linked together with other supportingcircuitry through an external bus architecture. Alternatively, theprocessing system may be implemented with an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit) with the processor, the bus interface, the userinterface in the case of an access terminal), supporting circuitry, andat least a portion of the machine-readable media integrated into asingle chip, or with one or more FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays),PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), controllers, state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware components, or any other suitable circuitry, orany combination of circuits that can perform the various functionalitydescribed throughout this disclosure. Those skilled in the art willrecognize how best to implement the described functionality for theprocessing system depending on the particular application and theoverall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

The machine-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. Thesoftware modules may include a transmission module and a receivingmodule. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or bedistributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, asoftware module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when atriggering event occurs. During execution of the software module, theprocessor may load some of the instructions into cache to increaseaccess speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a generalregister file for execution by the processor. When referring to thefunctionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used tocarry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR),radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twistedpair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For certain aspects, the computer program product may includepackaging material.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: a plurality of detectors, each having a respective Golaycorrelator, and each being located on a respective one of a plurality ofradio frequency (RF) chips, configured to detect a signal received by acorresponding one of a plurality of antennas when each of the pluralityof antennas is configured for an omni-mode of signal reception, whereineach of the plurality of detectors comprises a 1-bit or 2-bitanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) for processing the signal receivedfrom the corresponding one of the plurality of antennas, and wherein theeach of the plurality of detectors comprises a ADC clock for clockingthe ADC, the ADC clock having a frequency that is a carrier frequencydivided by an integer; and a processing system, separate from theplurality of RF chips, configured to: detect a remote apparatus based onone or more outputs from the plurality of detectors, and configure atleast one of the plurality of antennas for beamforming based on thedetection of the remote apparatus during the omni-mode of signalreception.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing systemcontrols behavior of one or more of the plurality of detectors by usinga set of commands.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processingsystem comprises a logic OR gate coupled to outputs of the plurality ofdetectors.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system isfurther configured to allow at most one of the plurality of detectors tooutput a detection declaration to the processing system at a time. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to disconnect from each of the plurality of detectors thatdoes not detect the signal from a corresponding one of the plurality ofantennas.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality ofdetectors is further configured to estimate at least one of frequency,gain, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q)signal mismatch, or phase and further wherein the processing system isconfigured to calibrate the apparatus based on the estimation.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to: determine a direction of the remote apparatus based onthe detection of the remote apparatus, and wherein the configuration ofthe at least one of the plurality of antennas for beamforming is basedon the determined direction.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein theconfiguration of the at least one of the plurality of antennas forbeamforming includes: adjust at least one beamforming weight of the atleast one of the plurality of antennas based on the determineddirection.
 9. A method of wireless communication of an apparatus,comprising: detecting signals via a plurality of detectors, wherein:each of the plurality of detectors has a respective Golay correlator anddetects a signal received by a corresponding one of a plurality ofantennas when each of the plurality of antennas is configured for anomni-mode of signal reception, each of the plurality of detectors islocated on a respective one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF)chips, each of the plurality of detectors comprises a 1-bit or 2-bitanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) for processing the signal receivedfrom the corresponding one of the plurality of antennas, and each of theplurality of detectors comprises a ADC clock for clocking the ADC, theADC clock having a frequency that is a carrier frequency divided by aninteger; detecting, by at least one processor separate from theplurality of RF chips, a remote apparatus based on one or more outputsfrom the plurality of detectors; and configuring, by the at least oneprocessor, at least one of the plurality of antennas for beamformingbased on the detecting the remote apparatus during the omni-mode ofsignal reception.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprisingcontrolling behavior of one or more of the plurality of detectors byusing a set of commands.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein thedetecting the remote apparatus comprises combining the outputs from theplurality of detectors.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the detectingthe remote apparatus comprises allowing at most one of the plurality ofdetectors to output a detection declaration at a time.
 13. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the detecting the remote apparatus comprisesdisconnecting from each of the plurality of detectors that does notdetect the signal from a corresponding one of the plurality of antennas.14. The method of claim 9, wherein the detecting the signals comprisesestimating at least one of frequency, gain, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signal mismatch, or phase, and furtherwherein the detecting the remote apparatus comprises calibrating theapparatus based on the estimation.
 15. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: determining, by the at least one processor, a direction ofthe remote apparatus based on the detection of the remote apparatus, andwherein the configuring of the at least one of the plurality of antennasfor beamforming is based on the determined direction.
 16. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the configuring of the at least one of the plurality ofantennas for beamforming includes: adjusting at least one beamformingweight of the at least one of the plurality of antennas based on thedetermined direction.
 17. An access point (AP) for wirelesscommunication, comprising: a plurality of antennas; a plurality ofdetectors each having a respective Golay correlator, and each of theplurality of detectors being configured to detect a signal received by acorresponding one of the plurality of antennas when each of theplurality of antennas is configured for an omni-mode of signalreception, wherein each of the plurality of detectors is located on arespective one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) chips, whereineach of the plurality of detectors comprises a 1-bit or 2-bitanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) for processing the signal receivedfrom the corresponding one of the plurality of antennas, and whereineach of the plurality of detectors comprises a ADC clock for clockingthe ADC, the ADC clock having a frequency that is a carrier frequencydivided by an integer; and a processing system, separate from theplurality of RF chips, configured to: detect a remote apparatus based onone or more outputs from the plurality of detectors, and configure atleast one of the plurality of antennas for beamforming based on thedetection of the remote apparatus during the omni-mode of signalreception.
 18. The AP of claim 17, wherein the processing system isfurther configured to: determine a direction of the remote apparatusbased on the detection of the remote apparatus, and wherein theconfiguration of the at least one of the plurality of antennas forbeamforming is based on the determined direction.
 19. The AP of claim17, wherein the configuration of the at least one of the plurality ofantennas for beamforming includes: adjust at least one beamformingweight of the at least one of the plurality of antennas based on thedetermined direction.
 20. The AP of claim 17, wherein the processingsystem controls behavior of one or more of the plurality of detectors byusing a set of commands.
 21. The AP of claim 17, wherein the processingsystem comprises a logic OR gate coupled to outputs of the plurality ofdetectors.
 22. The AP of claim 17, wherein the processing system isfurther configured to allow at most one of the plurality of detectors tooutput a detection declaration to the processing system at a time. 23.The AP of claim 17, wherein the processing system is further configuredto disconnect from each of the plurality of detectors that does notdetect the signal from a corresponding one of the plurality of antennas.24. The AP of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of detectors isfurther configured to estimate at least one of frequency, gain,signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signalmismatch, or phase and further wherein the processing system isconfigured to calibrate the apparatus based on the estimation.
 25. Anapparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a plurality ofdetectors, each of the plurality of detectors being configured to detecta signal received by a corresponding one of a plurality of antennas wheneach of the plurality of antennas is configured for an omni-mode ofsignal reception, wherein: each of the plurality of detectors is locatedon a respective one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) chips, eachof the plurality of detectors comprises a 1-bit or 2-bitanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) for processing the signal receivedfrom the corresponding one of the plurality of antennas, and each of theplurality of detectors comprises a ADC clock for clocking the ADC, theADC clock having a frequency that is a carrier frequency divided by aninteger; and a processing system, separate from the plurality of RFchips, configured to: detect a remote apparatus based on outputs fromthe plurality of detectors, and configure at least one of the pluralityof antennas for beamforming based on the detection of the remoteapparatus during the omni-mode of signal reception.
 26. The apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the processing system controls behavior of one or moreof the plurality of detectors by using a set of commands.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing system comprises a logicOR gate coupled to outputs of the plurality of detectors.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to allow at most one of the plurality of detectors to outputa detection declaration to the processing system at a time.
 29. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to disconnect from each of the plurality of detectors thatdoes not detect the signal from a corresponding one of the plurality ofantennas.
 30. A method of wireless communication of an apparatus,comprising: detecting signals via a plurality of detectors, wherein:each of the plurality of detectors detects a signal received by acorresponding one of a plurality of antennas when each of the pluralityof antennas is configured for an omni-mode of signal reception, each ofthe plurality of detectors is located on a respective one of a pluralityof radio frequency (RF) chips, each of the plurality of detectorscomprises a 1-bit or 2-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) forprocessing the signal received from the corresponding one of theplurality of antennas, and each of the plurality of detectors comprisesa ADC clock for clocking the ADC, the ADC clock having a frequency thatis a carrier frequency divided by an integer; and detecting, by at leastone processor separate from the plurality of RF chips, a remoteapparatus based on outputs from the plurality of detectors; andconfiguring, by the at least one processor, at least one of theplurality of antennas for beamforming based on the detecting the remoteapparatus during the omni-mode of signal reception.
 31. The method ofclaim 30, further comprising controlling behavior of one or more of theplurality of detectors by using a set of commands.
 32. The method ofclaim 30, wherein the detecting the remote apparatus comprises combiningthe outputs from the plurality of detectors.
 33. The method of claim 30,wherein the detecting the remote apparatus comprises allowing at mostone of the plurality of detectors to output a detection declaration at atime.
 34. The method of claim 30, wherein the detecting the remoteapparatus comprises disconnecting from each of the plurality ofdetectors that does not detect the signal from a corresponding one ofthe plurality of antennas.
 35. An access point (AP) for wirelesscommunication, comprising: a plurality of antennas; a plurality ofdetectors, each of the plurality of detectors being configured to detecta signal received by a corresponding one of the plurality of antennaswhen each of the plurality of antennas is configured for an omni-mode ofsignal reception, wherein each of the plurality of detectors is locatedon a respective one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) chips,wherein each of the plurality of detectors comprises a 1-bit or 2-bitanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) for processing the signal receivedfrom the corresponding one of the plurality of antennas, and whereineach of the plurality of detectors comprises a ADC clock for clockingthe ADC, the ADC clock having a frequency that is a carrier frequencydivided by an integer; and a processing system, separate from theplurality of RF chips, configured to: detect a remote apparatus based onoutputs from the plurality of detectors, and configure at least one ofthe plurality of antennas for beamforming based on the detection of theremote apparatus during the omni-mode of signal reception.
 36. The AP ofclaim 35, wherein each of the plurality of detectors includes arespective Golay correlator.